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Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood (later Lord Godalming) is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. In the novel He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward. In the novel he is the one who drives a wooden stake into Lucy after she becomes a vampire and helps hunt down Count Dracula. In the middle of the story Holmwood's father dies and he succeeds his father as Lord Godalming. It is mentioned in the note at the end of the novel written seven years after Dracula's death, that Holmwood is now happily married. It is of interest to note that Holmwood and Jonathan Harker exchange personality types depending on who's significant other is being terrorized by the Count. In the beginning, Holmwood is emotional and prone to fits of depression while Jonathan attempts to maintain a strong will and recovery after his time in Dracula's castle. After the death of Holmwood's father, he gains a somewhat stronger will, befitting on his new title, while Jonathan is constantly breaking down as his wife is terrorized by the Count. In other media Though a major character in the novel, Arthur Holmwood has often been omitted from various adaptations of the story. In the 1977 adaptation Count Dracula, he is merged with the Quincey Morris character and renamed Quincey Holmwood. In the 2006 adaptation Dracula, Holmwood is a far more central character than he is in the novel and portrayed in a much more negative light, aiding in Dracula's travels to England in the belief that Dracula may be able to cure him of the family syphilis that prevents him from consummating his marriage, only for Dracula to tear his head off in the final confrontation. To date he has been portrayed in film and television by: * Michael Gough in Dracula (1958) * Simon Ward in Dracula (1973) * Richard Barnes (as Quincey Holmwood) in Count Dracula (1977) * Cary Elwes in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) * Conrad Hornby in Dracula (2002) * Stephane Leonard in Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002) * Dan Stevens in Dracula (2006) In the 1938 Mercury Theatre radio production of Dracula, Holmwood's character was combined with John Seward's and renamed Arthur Seward. He was voiced by Orson Welles, who also voiced Dracula in the adaptation. The 2004 film Dracula 3000 features a character named Arthur Holmwood, though it is a futuristic science fiction/horror film and this Holmwood is not intended to be the same person. In the full motion video based game Dracula Unleashed, Holmwood is played by Jay Nickerson. In the novel Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, in which the events of Stoker's Dracula ended with the villain slaying Abraham Van Helsing and subsequently conquering the United Kingdom, Holmwood is again a major character. Having himself become a vampire, he is now a top aide to the new Prime Minister, Lord Ruthven. In this version, Holmwood, though outwardly kind and genteel, is actually a megalomaniac who hopes to eventually use his new vampiric powers to usurp Ruthven and, eventually, Dracula himself. Miscellaneous Holmwood and Godalming are both places in Surrey. Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1897 Category:Dracula characters Category:Fictional nobility Category:Fictional vampire hunters Category:Characters Category:Horror film characters Category:Van Helsing characters